Sewing machine gauge and guide



July 14, 1953 G; M. UNDERWOOD 2,645,194

SEWING MACHINE GAUGE AND GUI DE Filed April 21, 1950 INV ENT OR 6km: M.fluneen'oad ATTORNEYS Patented July 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEi 7 2,645,194 SEWING MACHINE GAUGE AND GUIDE Grace M. Underwood,Berryton, Kans.

Application April 21, 1950, Serial No. 157,297

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a gauge and guide for use in sewing seams in asewing machine.

An important object of the invention is to pro vide a novel gauge andguide for use on a sewing machine for assisting in sewing straight seamsof a given width, and wherein the device is extremely simple and easy touse.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which is ofsimple construction and lends itself readily to manufacture from avariety of materials, and in the use of which the sewing of a seam ofany desired width is greatly facilitated.

A further object is to provide such a device having means associatedtherewith for assisting the operator not only in sewing a seam of agiven width along tone edge of the material, but which provides meansfor gauging the end of the stitching so that the material can be turnedto stitch a seam of the same width along another edge of the material. p

A further object is to provide such a combined gauge and guide which maybe economically manufactured and which is capable of easy attachment tothe bed of a sewing machine and easy adjustment according to the widthof the' seam to be sewed.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing, I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In thisshowing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device,

Figure 2 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional View through thedevice showing it in position on a sewing machine and showing itsrelation to the needle and presser foot of the machine, parts beingshown in elevation, and

Figure 3 is a detailed perspective view of a laterally movable gaugeelement.

Referring to Figure 2, the numeral designates the bed of a conventionalsewing machine having the usual presser foot I l bifurcated in thebottom thereof for the passage therethrough of the usual reciprocatingneedle. The beds of all sewing machines are provided with a threadedopening 13, spaced from the presser foot, and such opening is utilizedfor the mounting of the present invention on the bed of the machine.

The present device comprises a gauge body l5 which may be formed of anysuitable preferably sheet material, for example aluminum, stainlesssteel, plastic, or the like. Preferably, the body i5 is formed ofnormally fiat sheet metal such as stainless steel, and is stamped andpunched to form the finished body. Throughout the greater portion of itslength, the body is formed with a straight shank It longitudinallyslotted as at ll. A thumb screw l8 has-its threaded shank l9 extendingthrough the slot I! for threaded connection-in the opening [3 to securethe device in position.

At its end toward the presser foot ll, the'body I5 is provided with alaterally elongated head become apparent. The top wall 24 is slotted asat 21, and the top and front walls 24 are calibrated as at 28,preferably in lines one-eight inch apart.

v A base plate 30 is arranged beneath the body l5 between the thumbscrew l8 and head 22. This base plate has its rear edge notched as at 31to receive the shank IQ of the thumb screw if the latter element liesrelatively close to the head 22. Centrally of the width of the body IS,the base plate is provided with a short depending finger 32 to engage ina suitable opening formed in some machine beds to assist in anchoringthe device in adjusted positions. Adjacent the edges of the body It, thebase plate 30 is bent upwardly and back upon itself to provide guides 33receiving the edges of the body 15. The base plate 30 may be omittedwhen the device is used with machines having no opening for the finger32.

An index plate 35 extends beneath the shank l6 of the body as shown inFigure 2. This plate has its edges turned upwardly and inwardly as at 36and 3? respectively to form flanges to slidably connect the index plate35 and body 36. The flange 31 is provided with an integral pointer 38operative over calibrations 39, while the flange 36 is provided with asimilar pointer 43 operative over a longer series of calibrations 4|.The calibrations 39 and 4| are preferably one-eighth inch apart andcertain of the calibrations onefourth inch apart are preferably providedwith punch marks 42 to assist in counting off the calibrations whensetting the device.

One of the calibrations 39 also forms one of the calibrations M, andsuch line, indicated by the numeral 43, will be the zero line for thepointer 40.

A laterally movable gauging device indicated as a whole by the numeral45 is slidably connected to the head 22. This device is of substantiallyinverted U-shape as shown in Figures 2 and 3 and has its central upperportion punched out as at 46, part of the material thus punched outforming a pointer 41 which projects through the slot 21 and operatesover the scale markings 28.

After the index plate 35 and base plate 30 have been slipped intoposition over the right hand end of the shank IS, a punch is placedabove the shank l6 adjacent the free end thereof and struck with ahammer to form a depression 50. This forms a small protuberance beneaththe shank [G which prevents the index plate 35 and base plate 30 fromsliding from the shank 15.

Operation The screw [8 is inserted in the opening I3 and the head 22 ismoved into engagement with the pr se oot I Th ope ml l det the distanceirom the needleto the inside of the presser foot, that is, the side incontact with the head 22. This distance varies on different makes ofmachinesirom one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch. Assuming the distanceto be onefourth inch, the pointer 38 will be moved onefourth inch fromthe line with which it registers in Figure 1 to the line 43. The latterline will be the zero line for the pointer 40, and when the pointer 38is'moved in the manner stated, the pointer 40 will be similarly movedone-fourth inch.

Assuming now that the operator desires to stitch a seam five-eighths ofan inch wide, she willnow hold the index plate 35 by grasping theflanges 36 and 31 and will slide the body toward the right as viewed inFigures 1 and 2 until the pointer 40 has been relatively moved threeadditional marks 4i. At this time, the pointer 48 will be relativelymoved five one-eighth-inch spaces from its zero mark 43 with which it isshown in registration in Figure 1. The screw [8 is now tightened. Theinner wall 25 of the head 22 will now be arranged five-eighths inch fromthe needle I 2. The operator may now start the sewing operation with theedge of the material touching the inner wall of the head 22 and with thesewing machine in operation, the material will be guided so as tomaintain the edge of the material just in contact with the wall 25. Thiswall acts as a gauge to facilitate the sewing of a straight seam of anydesired width.

If, at the end of such seam, the operator desires to turn a corner andsew a seam of the same width, the pointer 41 will be placed at a pointdirectly opposite the needle [2 and from such point will be moved towardthe operator five of the lines 28, which will place the pointer 4!fiveeighths of an inch forwardly of the needle. The sewing of the samereferred to above will be continued until the following edge of thematerial reaches a point in registration with the gauge line 28 of thewall 25 corresponding to the position of the pointer 41. The sewingoperation will be stopped at such point, and the material will berotated counter-clockwise, as viewed looking down on the bed of themachine, until such following edge moves into contact and alignment withthe inner face of the wall 25. The previously sewed seam will stop at adistance from the following edge of the material equal to the width ofthe previous seam, and the operator can then continue the stitching ofthe seam along the second edge of the material as was done along theprevious edge. The seam along both edges will then be the same width.

In the assembling of the device, the index plate and anchor plate 30'(ifthe latter is used) will be slid over the right hand end of the shank I6of the body of the device, whereupon the depression 50 will be punchedto form a stop to prevent the loss of the index device from the shank l5when the device is not in use. In the assembling of the gauge device 45relative to the head 22, the device 45 will be formed as shown exceptthat the pointer 41 will be left vertical. The device 45 is theninserted upwardly into the head 22 until it seats at the top thereof,whereupon the device 45 is supported by a suitable jig, and the pointer41 is bent over to the position-shown. The pointer 47 may be movedlongitudinally of the head 22, but after assembly, the device 45 cannotbe lost from the head 22. a

I claim:

A sewing machine gauge and guide comprising an elongated shank adaptedto be arranged on the bed of a sewing machine and projecting from thepresser foot thereof in a direction transverse to the direction ofmovement of material under the presser foot, a head of inverted U-shapecarried by said shank adjacent the presser foot and elongated in thedirection of movement of the material under the presser foot, means forsecuring said shank in adjusted position with the inner face of saidhead a predetermined distance from the sewing machine needle, said headhaving a longitudinal slot and being calibrated, and an indicatingdevice slidable within said head and having an indicating pointerprojecting through said slot and movable over the calibrations of saidhead to place said pointer a predetermined distance ahead of the sewingmachine needle whereby the stitching of the material can be stopped whenthe following edge of the material reaches said pointer so that thematerial can be turned to stitch adjacent said following edge to providea seam of a width determined by the distance between said head and thesewing machine needle.

GRACE M. UNDERWOOD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 332,526 Hitchcock Dec. 15, 1885 435,517 Pickett Sept. 2, 1890488,862 Winters Dec. 27, 1892 491,194 Shellard Feb. 7, 1893 689,924Sloan Dec. 31, 1901 959,639 Stanton May 31, 1910 1,278,296 Blood Sept.10, 1918

